January 05, 2007

1/5: To The Victors Goes The Intra-Party Harmony

While possible tensions over Iraq bubble over the horizon, lefty bloggers maintained a genuinely optimistic and celebratory mood 1/4 throughout the swearing-in ceremonies. No one on the left particularly enjoys the bipartisan rhetoric coming from some Dems, but the netroots are willing to be patient to see what results their leaders produce. Meanwhile on the right, Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell's first blogger outreach effort hits bumps over immigration and earmarks.

DEMS: Party Like It's 1992

Bloggers in attendance for the swearing-in of first-ever-woman-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) found the occasion "momentous" and "monumental" 1/4. Pelosi took special care of her netroots friends, setting them up in Room H-122 and providing free lunch. As if food wasn't enough, prominent Dems dropped by for interviews with those present throughout the day. Visitors included: DNC Chair Howard Dean and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME) (Joe in DC adds: "we'll all be hearing a lot about him as the 2008 Senate race in Maine starts to gear up"), DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Financial Servicers Chair Barney Frank (D-MA) (who described Hurricane Katrina as "ethnic cleansing through inaction.")

On the right, The Corner's Rich Lowry offered a "superficial observation" from the male perspective on Pelosi: "She looks great." Fellow CorneriteKathryn Jean Lopez offered the conservative women's perspective: "Madame Speaker, I'm sorry. I'm just not feeling empowered. I'm just not." And back to Lowry for what is probably every conservative's thought on Pelosi's 'Let's hear it for the children' line: "Oh, please."

DEMS II: If You Can't Beat 'Em ...

Taking a break from their swearing-in festivities, some Dem office-holders posted entries at The Huffington Post including:

• Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA): "Our bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour will benefit almost 13 million Americans. It will help more than 6 million children whose parents will receive a raise. ... Minimum-wage workers are men and women of dignity, and they deserve a fair wage that respects the dignity of their work. It's long past time to give them a raise.
• Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): "It now seems that the President will move forward with sending more troops. An escalation in the war, particularly with no change in strategy, makes no sense. ... Both the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committee will convene hearings next week to help create a change of strategy."
• Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): "[O]ne of the first ten bills introduced by Congress today is legislation that will lift the President's restrictions on stem cell research. ... This issue is very important to me and millions of Americans because stem cell research offers hope."
• Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA): "The White House will soon ask for over $100 billion in new emergency war spending, Adjusted for inflation, that is more than we spent in 1968, the most expensive year of the war in Vietnam. And the lion's share of that funding was done through the regular process. ... There must be no more blank checks for this President, and I predict this will be the last "emergency" supplemental in the new Democrat-controlled Congress.

DEMS III: Where "Bi" Is Still A Dirty Word

Explaining, "Perhaps because some of my clearest memories in Washington come from attending protest marches here," MyDD's Chris Bowers declares: "I don't share the same longing for the lost paradise of bi-partisanship that I keep hearing about these days." Bowers illustrates: "The last major piece of bi-partisan legislation that was passed during a time of split government was the October 2002 authorization of force in Iraq--the very piece of legislation that I repeatedly came to D.C. to protest. ... NAFTA is another good example of now unpopular bi-partisan legislation."

David Sirota is also unimpressed with the "bipartisanship" rhetoric from 1/4: "We may recall that some of the worst policies in American history were passed with broad bipartisan support. These include, just to name a few, the Iraq War Resolution, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, NAFTA, China PNTR, the Bankruptcy Bill, the Bush Energy Bill and the recent tax cut for corporate outsourcers. ... I'm not saying bipartisanship is necessarily bad. But I'm also not saying it is automatically good."

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas, on the other hand, urges readers not "to freak out" when "Chuck Rangel says nice things about Republicans to the press ("blah blah blah working together blah blah blah bipartisanship blah blah blah")" but instead to celebrate when Rangel is "sticking it to them in committee." Kos concludes: "As we pass judgment on the effectiveness of our gals and guys, we should look at the totality of their actions and words. That'll be far more instructive than just rhetoric alone."

IRAQ: Don't Fence Them In

Arianna Huffington was reporting from Capitol Hill all 1/4 including an items on Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) promising Dems will "fence the funding" in order to deny "the president the resources to escalate the war." Murtha will instead use "the money to take care of the soldiers as we bring them home from Iraq "as soon as we can." Huffington also notes 1/5 that: "Democratic Congressional leaders will come out with a strong statement on troop escalation, laying down a marker and establishing the Democratic position on what has become the first critical decision on the war in Iraq facing the 110th Congress."

Reacting to Murtha, MyDD's Matt Stoller writes: "This is good. People were ready to give Bush one last blank check, but the escalation has allowed progressives the opportunity to push back. Bush overreached and is out of control, and it looks like the Democrats might stand up to him on the funding piece. That's the last taboo for Congress, and it's one that should have dissipated long ago." David Sirota adds: "I'm looking forward to watching D.C.'s chickenhawk pundit class lecture a Marine veteran and Vietnam war hero about why we should not prevent a military escalation that troops on the ground say they don't want and instead better fund health care for soldiers wounded in battle."

In related news, Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall notes a CBSpoll showing 45% of Americans view Iraq as the top priority of the 110th, with economy and health care tied for 2nd at 7%. Marshall asks: "Perhaps some of my public opinion analyst friends will chime in on this. But I'm not sure I remember ever seeing such a stark number on public priorities on a question like this."

Finally, the Left Coaster acknowledged Cindy Sheehan's existence: "I know many of you support Sheehan and may want the Democrats to focus immediately on shutting down this war or impeaching Bush. Please, let the Democrats demonstrate they can govern and be a real counterweight to Bush, and let them fulfill the agenda they ran on, which has large public support before demanding they rush headlong into actions that will cripple the leadership before it can establish itself. ... If three months from now the Democrats have rubber-stamped an escalation and caved in, then Sheehan should storm Washington with thousands of supporters. ... Please put a sock in it Cindy, at least for now."

GOP FIELD: The Least Problematic

Conservative author Mark Steyn offered his take on the GOP field 1/4 while discussing the GWOT on the Hugh Hewitt Show:

Well, there's Newt Gingrich, who everybody says, and I think they're right, has been making terrific speeches on terror. He gave a terrific appearance in New Hampshire, in which he called, he said that those six imams in Minneapolis causing the trouble on the plane should actually have been arrested. He's absolutely terrific, but he carries way too much personal baggage. And all four of these candidates, I think, are defective in some ways. Mitt Romney I like, but in many ways, because I think his kind of Mormonism is the least problematic baggage of the major candidates.

In IA, Krusty Konservative offers his lightning summary "second tier" candidates: "Brownback has had the best start. Thompson has the better Iowa consultant. Huckabee has the most potential."

BROWNBACK: Get On The Phone!!!

Noting Sam Brownback's hiring of IA Right to Life dir. Kim Lehman, RedState's Leon Wolf comments: "At this point, the buzz about Brownback among conservatives is that he is easily the candidate most closely aligned with conservative interests, but he doesn't deserve any support because "he can't win." If Brownback can successfully manage a top-3 finish in Iowa and New Hampshire, this conventional wisdom may have to be revised somewhat going forward."

The Right Angle's Matt Lewis also calls the hire big news, but still is not convinced Brownback can raise the funds to be credible. Lewis advises: "1. Hire a top-notch political fundraiser ... immediately. 2. Next, personally ASK every proven political donor you can find for money. (You should spend AT LEAST 50 percent of your time raising money). 3. Repeat step 2."

GIULIANI: The Plan Had No Plan

Taking a belated look at the leaked Rudy Giuliani campaign plan, The Corner's Ramesh Ponnuru writes: "But the thing that strikes me, from reading the newspaper accounts of the memo, is how unprepared for 2008 Giuliani seems. ... Maybe Giuliani should take the advice supporters such as Deroy Murdock have given, and move right on some of those social issues. Or maybe he should court some social-conservative figures, or signal his sympathy for their concerns. But you would expect him to have a strategy."

MCCAIN: A Slow-Motion Roger Mudd Moment

Righty bloggers continued to hit John McCain hard over quotes and revelations included in Todd Purdum's Vanity Fair profile. Bloggers are must upset with McCain's thoughts on immigration and the GOP: ""I think the fence is least effective. But I'll build the goddamned fence if they want it." Townhall's Hugh Hewitt calls the article "a sort of slow-motion Roger Mudd moment" comments:

Senator McCain still doesn't understand the fence. He still doesn't understand that the vast majority of people believe the 700 miles of fencing will in fact be effective, and that the anger over it from amnesty proponents and the Mexican government proves the point. He also still fails to realize that regularization of the 14 million illegals begins with the fence construction, not with McCain-Kennedy and social security benefits for years worked following an illegal entry.

Power Line's Paul Mirengoff quotes Mark Steyn's reaction to the line from the Hugh Hewitt show: "[F]rom McCain's point of view, that sounds great, because the press liked that kind of talk, because it has a kind of cynicism to it, and a contempt for the conservative base. ... So that line, you know, when he delivers a line like that, you can more or less hear, see the eyes of the Washington Post and New York Times guys light up. That's what they like about him." Mirengoff argues the statement shows McCain "may be too thin-skinned and, frankly, too old and cranky to make it through almost two years of campaigning" and also questions whether McCain's toughness on Iraq will ultimately cost him if the situation deteriorates further.

ROMNEY: "Pro-Abortion" GOPers Need Not Apply

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt reports outgoing CO Gov. Bill Owens (R) "bluntly announced that he is for Romney" on Hewitt's radio show 1/4.

AmSpec Blog's The Washington Prowler explains Romney may have a "Video Problem" after So. Cal. businessman Mark Chapin Johnson sent a DVD "of an hour-long CSPAN interview with Romney" mailed to potential supporters. WP explains "it doesn't appear from the materials that reproduction of the interview was ever cleared with CSPAN." More importantly for WP though, Johnson has been "identified in the past as a "pro-abortion Republican." WP argues: "given that Romney has so clearly flip-flopped on abortion and other life issues over the years, it's surprising that he would associate himself so closely with a supporter well known in California political circles for trying to push the Republican Party to the center on abortion and other social issues."

GOP: Good Pork, Bad Pork

Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell introduced himself to bloggers 1/4 with a brief Q and A set up by McConnell new-media director Jon Henke.

RedState's California Yankee says McConnell claimed "this is traditionally a time to employ civility, but not capitulation" but also "drew a line in the sand saying two things were not negotiable." Those items: "1. Raising taxes -The minority won't put the economy at risk by allowing taxes to be increased. 2. Staying on offense in the War - The country has not suffered a terrorist attack since 9/11 because we have been on the offensive, taking the fight to our enemies."

Right Wing News asked McConnell about immigration and summarized McConnell's response: "You probably don't agree with this, but I support a comprehensive bill. I support a guest worker program. I am opposed to allowing any preferential treatment for people here illegally to being citizens. I don't think a guest worker program and ultimately becoming a citizen necessarily have to be related."

Ankle Biting PunditsPatrick Hynes adds: "I almost dropped my phone and choked on my coffee when ... Sen. McConnell said, "Some earmarks are actually a good idea." The Senator drew a distinction between good pork, such as a cancer hospital (which he is trying to get built in his home state of Kentucky) and bad pork such as the infamous Bridge to Nowhere."

BLOGGERS VS. BLOGGERS: Existence Is Half The Battle...

Righty bloggers were undeterred by AP reports confirming the existence of Iraqi police officer/AP news source Capt. Jamil Hussein. The blogger/AP dispute began after the AP used Hussein as the only source for a 11/24 story on the killing of six Sunnis by Iraqi Shittes. Reactions include:

• Townhall's Mary Katharine Ham: "The fact remains that the "four burned mosques" story was changed to a "one burned mosque" story without any clarification or correction, and the "burning Sunnis" story still sounds iffy, given that there was no Sunni outcry. And, then there are the 40 stories Hussein has given AP, none of which have been corroborated by other news agencies."
• Captain's Quarters: "Whether Jamil Hussein actually exists is really a secondary issue. The fact that the AP used a single source for dozens of inflammatory stories about atrocities in Iraq that still have yet to find any confirmation is almost as disturbing as making the source up."
• Riehl World View: "But let me be the first to say to the Left, before they lose themselves in glee, I don't see that bloggers have anything to apologize for, nor do I see this story being at an end. The ultimate question is what happened in Hurriya the day six Sunnis were claimed to have been burned alive?"
• Kausfiles: "Capt. Jamil Hussein, controversial AP source, seems to exist. That's one important component of credibility!"

The left had a decidedly different reaction. DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas asks: "Are the wingers ever right about anything?" Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher adds: "They can't raise money. They can't organize. They can't even acknowledge that they've been beating a dead story into the ground because like their fearless leader, they equate admitting they are wrong with failure. Yet they are wrong, almost all the time and about almost everything."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: At Least Everyone Knows Why They Hate Bush

Reacting to a TNRarticle on Ronald Reagan's "conversion from liberal to conservative" TAPPED's Ezra Klein writes

I'm always fascinated by tales like this, and the history of the conservative movement is rife with them. A simply stunning number of institutions arose in the 40s and 50s that did nothing but disseminate and popularize books setting out the conservative economic worldview to the country. The focus was, quite literally, on creating conservatives. Not Republicans, not GOP voters, but ideologues of a certain brand and style, whose foundational world view, rather than mere partisan allegiance, would be aligned with the movement.

Liberals in this day and age, despite facing a moment not altogether dissimilar from mid-century conservatives, have not embarked on on similar educational strategy. Indeed, the books most likely to be publicized by progressives are partisan tracts laying out the case against the Bush administration or the Republican Party, not explications of the liberal worldview and persuasive literature arguing for its adoption. I can't even think of many books written for popular consumption that attempt to provide such a rigorous education. So what we've got, particularly right now, is a lot of people who understand why they hate Bush without knowing precisely why the progressive outlook is a stronger, more durable, more effective ideology than its competitors. So what you get -- best case -- are partisan victories, not movement triumphs.

LEST WE FORGET: We Didn't Know Funerals Could Be Unconstitutional

Power Line's Paul Mirengoff points readers to a National Review Online article arguing that under the "radically secularist establishment clause jurisprudence of lone ex-Pres. Gerald Ford SCOTUS appointment Justice John Paul Stevens, Ford's burial service at the National Cathedral would have to be considered unconstitutional. For NRO Ed Whelan writes:

Ford's state funeral is impossible to reconcile with Stevens' extremist views of the establishment clause. Most conspicuously, members of the United States military played a prominent role in the pervasively religious ceremony, both as pallbearers and as musical performers. The United States Marine Orchestra and the Armed Forces Chorus not only performed; they sang explicitly Christian hymns. ...

Moreover, the very existence of the National Cathedral ought to be constitutionally objectionable in Stevens's eyes. The National Cathedral is part of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, which was chartered by an Act of Congress, signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1893, "for the promotion of religion and education and charity."

Posted by Conn Carroll at January 5, 2007 12:27 PM